


Rhythm and Code

by Nisachan666



Series: Blueprints for the Black Market [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-War, Songfic, Team 8, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 08:39:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2501507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nisachan666/pseuds/Nisachan666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shino can see it all happening and can do nothing to stop it. Nothing hurts and confuses as much as a teenage crush can.  </p><p>Inspiration - "Foreign Language" by Anberlin</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rhythm and Code

_Where did we go wrong?_

_We need medication for this miscommunication_

* * *

Shino had seen this trainwreck coming for a long time. With strong, uncompromising feelings involved, how else was it going to end? 

* * *

That Hinata was in love with Naruto was obvious to perhaps everyone except Naruto himself. The way that she would go bright red and sometimes even faint whenever he so much as glanced her way with an absent, targetless smile on his face. It was obvious when she fought so hard and fierce whenever he might be watching. Even when he wasn't, her improved zeal was noticeable to even those shinobi hardest to impress.

To Shino, it was most obvious in her speech. She had never been quick with words. Everything was always hesitant, considered, even with those she had known the longest and trusted the best. She favoured simplicity of expression, to leave herself little room to be misunderstood, whilst still seeming polite. 

Around Naruto, one of two things usually happened. One, she would clam up completely, as if he were communicating in tongues unknown. Two, if she were having one of her more confident days, she would get verbose. Words that tangled in the mouth would pour from her lips, the density of speech too much to decipher. The intensity of feeling was too much to contain, but too terrifying to keep simple and sweet. Instead, she would layer code upon cipher upon encryption, disguising what she felt as something that they could both be more comfortable with. 

She always hoped that he would translate her. She would be simultaneously disappointed and painfully relieved when he left the conversation oblivious as always. 

* * *

That Kiba was in love with Hinata was less obvious, a fact known only to a few others that Shino was aware of. Tsume and Hana knew, of course; the Inuzuka clan had never been one to keep secrets from one another, especially when it came to matters of the heart. Shikamaru almost certainly knew, very little getting past him, but didn't care to get involved. Neji? Probably, but if he did know, he never mentioned it. 

It never really occurred to anyone else that Kiba might be nursing a crush on Hinata, simply because Kiba didn't act like someone with a crush. He didn't get nervous or embarrassed around her. He didn't seem any more flirtatious. He didn't get touchy if people asked him about their relationship. To most, he just acted like regular old Kiba. 

But to Shino, it was hard to miss. The way that Kiba would subtly insert himself between Hinata and anyone he wasn't sure of. The way that he was just a little bit cagier with Neji, even after all these years of forgiveness between the two Hyuugas. The way that he matched her pace, trailing a half step behind her and Akamaru only a half step behind him. He treated her like one of the pack. Even after all these years, Shino could only ever count himself as a friend in Kiba's eyes, never something that intimate. 

Kiba would always encourage Hinata's feelings for Naruto, because it was in those moments where she seemed brighter, more vivid and beautiful than at any other time. It kills him that those feelings can't be directed at him, but he could never betray her so completely. So he kept quiet and played the teasing brother figure, so that he could make her happy. 

* * *

That Shino was in love with Kiba was known to no-one but himself and the kikaichu. He supposed that this meant that his clan knew by proxy, but the Aburame clan has never been one to try and pry secrets from its members. They all know the value of secrets, especially the ones that seem so small in comparison, but end up being the most important secrets of them all. 

It had taken a long time for him to realise it, but Shino knew that after the disastrous attempt to bring back Sasuke that he didn't want to risk losing his teammate like that again. It hadn't been love then, but everything needs to start somewhere. So as he put himself forward more, trying to figure out the people around him, he realised that he needed Kiba. Shino was used to being needed for practical matters: trackers are always useful on missions, as are those with more natural skills in strategic thinking. So it was initially quite disturbing for him to need Kiba not in practical terms, but in emotional ones. He wasn't used to needing to see someone's half-asleep smile first thing in the morning, or a presumptive arm over his shoulder. He wasn't used to wanting to keep someone close simply for closeness' sake.

Some days he wondered whether his experience with the kikaichu coloured his perspective strangely. He wasn't sure how closely his idea of safety married with other people's. He was almost certain that his image of close, almost smothering darkness was probably not top of most people's lists. He knew for a certainty that it wasn't Kiba's. It was how he knew that anything between them would never work, much as he would prefer otherwise. There were too many differences. The things that drew Shino in were the things that barred him from getting any closer. Kiba's energy, his passion, needed something similarly vital to match, something he saw in Hinata so clearly. Shino just didn't do passion. If the most he could get from life was contentedness, then he would have no problem. That was something that would never satisfy any Inuzuka, much less Kiba. 

So yes, it hurt to see Kiba want someone else. But it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle. 

* * *

Shino had seen this trainwreck coming for a long time. But what else could he do but take all of those secrets and hide them, let them eat away at him from the inside, much as he always had done. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This song originally inspired an AU with a transgender Shino, but I couldn't bring it together without it feeling forced. So I re-listened to it, and after I stopped trying so hard the solution was simple. This is a song about hurt feelings through poor communication, so bring on the angst. It's been so long. 
> 
> Apologies if Hinata is a tad out of character. I liked the image too much to not include it. 
> 
> Please comment and critique.


End file.
